BusinessWeek's 2006 Rankings

HOUSTON, October 13, 2006—BusinessWeek has ranked Rice among the best full-time MBA programs in the U.S. The rankings were released October 13, 2006. Rice has always fostered diversity among its students and faculty, excellent career management services, a low student-faculty ratio, and high alumni involvement.

Clearly the Rice MBA program has improved in numerous ways that will continue to increase its ranking in the next few years. As we engage in discussion with students, faculty, alumni, and other members of our community, we will further enhance an outstanding business education. We have already achieved a number of improvements:

Curricular enhancements–such as the addition of custom core courses and electives that enable students to pursue individualized paths of study

The replacement of a modular schedule with a semester schedule that reduces course loads

Admission standards revisions designed to attract high caliber students

Recruitment of faculty with excellent research and educational backgrounds

A more involved alumni base

Enhanced career management services

Although Rice retains its high ranking, BusinessWeek's new methodology makes it difficult to make comparative assessments. While overall rankings are critical, they do not always reflect a school's primary strengths. Prospective students should always consider other important factors applicable to their concerns, such as student-faculty ratio, class size, faculty, career management services, and post-graduation salaries. For example, US News & World Report ranked the Jones School 18th in employment at three months, 22nd in recruiter assessment, and 24th in starting salaries. These metrics indicate the high quality of our career services—a fact which may not necessarily be reflected in overall assessments.

Rice has consistently developed principled, innovative thought leaders in global communities. Ranking methodologies are often obscure and inconsistent. This leads to fluctuating results year to year. Regardless of our rankings, we continue to add programs to meet the needs of our community, offer curricular options in expanding industry sectors, and rise to the challenges our future holds for continued exemplary business education.